Calcium and Cellular Function after Freezing and Thawing

Abstract

Since the discovery that glycerol protects living cells against the damage caused by freezing and thawing (Polge, Smith & Parkes, 1949), many advances have been made towards the storage of different cells and tissues at very low temperatures (−80°C or below). Damage caused by freezing and thawing is thought to be linked with the excessively high concentrations of electrolytes, particularly sodium chloride, that occur around the cells as ice forms (Lovelock, 1953). The part of the cell most susceptible to this stress appears to be the cellular membranes (Lovelock, 1957). Smooth muscle preparations have been used to investigate the recovery of an organized tissue after freezing and thawing in the presence of another protective substance (dimethyl sulphoxide) (Farrant, 1964a,b, 1965; Farrant, Walter & Armstrong, 1967), and the present experiments show how calcium ions are involved in the responses of the muscle to drugs after thawing.